Description of Clinical Expertise

Dr. Beatty's clinical expertise is in the area of early clinical trials for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies including pancreas, esophageal and colon carcinomas. He has led the first clinical study of CD40 immunotherapy for pancreas cancer, the first in-human study of a novel inhibitor of indoleamine 2,3 deoxygenase, and is currently working to translate novel T cell adoptive therapies for pancreas cancer.

In addition to the translation of immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies, Dr. Beatty's clinical research is focused on translating novel imaging strategies to the clinic to understand therapeutic responses to immunotherapy. His research also collaborates with radiation oncology to understand the role of radiation for activating immune responses against pancreatic carcinoma.

Based on early clinical findings supporting a role for immunotherapy in pancreatic carcinoma, Dr. Beatty's laboratory is using preclinical models of cancer to advance our understanding of the role of the immune system in regulating tumor biology with the primary goal to inform the development of novel immunotherapeutics for translation to the clinical setting.

Description of Research Expertise

My laboratory incorporates both basic science research and clinical investigation to examine the role of innate immunity, in particular monocytes/macrophages, in regulating tumor biology in pancreas cancer as well as other upper gastrointestinal malignancies. Our central hypothesis is that macrophages are key regulators of tumor biology.

Clinical research in the laboratory uses patient-derived samples to understand the role of macrophage biology in metastatic disease and therapeutic efficacy.

Preclinical research in the laboratory uses a genetically engineered mouse model of pancreas cancer in combination with advanced imaging strategies to study macrophage biology within the tumor microenvironment. This preclinical research platform allows for the study of basic immune biology within the tumor microenvironment as well as the rapid screening of novel immunotherapeutic strategies, including cell and gene therapies, for the treatment of cancer.

Studies in the laboratory focus on understanding 1) the signaling pathways that regulate cross-talk between macrophages and tumor cells in vivo, 2) the role of hematopoietic and non-hematopoietic cells in regulating macrophage biology within tumors, 3) the cellular trafficking of macrophages to primary and metastatic lesions, 4) strategies to harness macrophages for anti-tumor therapy, and 5) the impact of chemotherapy/radiation therapy on macrophage biology within tumors.